Feature Article: Streamlining Solar Technology

This article first appeared in Solar Today by Mike Koshmrl With 1000 "little cuts", SunShot aims to drop solar costs 75% in less than 10 years. It’s easy to be skeptical about the Dept of Energy’s (DOE) SunShot Initiative. The goal, installing utility-scale solar at $1 per watt by 2020, would bring solar costs down to 6 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), roughly the cost of coal-fired electricity. The name, SunShot, is a play on President Kennedy’s 1961 pledge to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade. DOE Secretary Chu announced the $27 million program in February, the funds for which will be spread among nine companies. How can $27 million make such a big impact? To achieve $1 per watt, the solar industry needs to streamline in a big way. It will need considerable module efficiency gains and slashed costs for installation, operations and maintenance and all other system components. Photovoltaic (PV) modules will need to come down 70%, inverters 55% and construction-related costs nearly 75%. "We’ll get there," says Frank van Mierlo, CEO of SunShot grant recipient 1366 Technologies. "Look at the historical cost curve of solar. The production costs come down 10% every […]

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